A 1930 French decree legalized forced cash-crop labor until 1946 abolition

Evidence

In 19 30, these officials nevertheless saw their wish for greater regulation of coercion finally realized. A ministerial decree regulating “obligatory public labor” listed for the first time the kinds of forced labor that the government considered legal, including compulsory cash-crop cultivation for two purposes, education and experimentation. Both forms required prior approval from the governor general before they could be instituted. This decree was the French government’s definitive judgment on legitimate force in cash cropping until 1946, when, in conformity with the recommendations of the Brazzaville Conference, another decree formally abolished all forms of coercion in West Africa. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 824

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader narrative of how republican France institutionalized coercion in West Africa versus its professed civilizing mission.